In developing a name for the newsletter, we thought about ‘advocate’, and dis-cussed having the word, without the article (definite or indefinite), because it means that ‘advocate’ can be read as both a noun and a verb, and that it can be referred to as what our union’s role is and what it does, especially when it has the name of our union in front of it: [the] WLUFA advocate. It also can be under-stood as an imperative to others, to ‘advocate’, to support the work of others. The lower case ‘a’ in front is, in part, a symbolic gesture to emphasize that in any democratic organization, like a union, all are considered equal, no one is or should be considered above or better than any other.
Our newsletter is about building community and that means providing the means of communication to enable dialogue, discussion and debate between the members of our union.

We are looking to you to make this newsletter the best advocate for faculty and academic librarians that we can make it, recognizing the contributions that we make to the success of each other, and in solidarity with each other. We should not forget that the success of any student and the success of any academic program – from Arabic to Women’s Studies – is dependent upon what each one of us does in teaching and research in our own particular disciplines which in turn facilitates and helps Laurier, not just as a university but also as a community, to grow and develop.

Our Executive needs a means to communicate to the membership on a regular basis (outside of bargaining unit e-mails and the newsletters sent, usually, during negotiations), while our members need a means to engage with each other in a medium where our voices are privileged, our concerns are raised and we are welcomed to debate and discuss the challenges we face. We need a means to ensure that all voices are being heard as opposed to just a privileged few: one builds community through full and frank dialogue.
It’s your union, your newsletter, your voice!